EASTERN EUROPE

REPORT: RUSSIA SCHOOL ATTACK COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED

BESLAN, Russia – Police in Russia’s restive south ignored orders to increase security at schools – a directive that could have prevented a hostage crisis in Beslan that left 331 people dead last year, the head of a commission investigating the attack said yesterday.

When terrorists did seize the school, the operation to free the hostages was “plagued by shortcomings,” with police unprepared to deal with the crisis, lawmaker Alexander Torshin said. The parliamentary report critical of local police sharply contrasted with conclusions from a separate investigation by prosecutors announced one day earlier.

– Associated Press

PERSIAN GULF

TWO MOST-WANTED TERRORISTS KILLED IN 24-HOUR SPAN IN SAUDI ARABIA

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Police shot dead a militant on Saudi Arabia’s most-wanted list yesterday, the second major terror suspect to die in the country in 24 hours, a Saudi security official said. Abdel-Rahman Saleh Abdel-Rahman al-Mutab, who was no. 4 on the list of the kingdom’s 15 most-wanted suspects, was fatally shot north of Riyadh, the security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

– Associated Press

U.S. MILITARY CHIEF TRAVELS TO MIDDLE EAST

DOHA, Qatar – America’s top military leader opened a week-long holiday trip to the Middle East yesterday, applauding American troops for their fight against terror just days after the Bush administration announced new troop cuts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, also held talks with General John Abizaid and other senior officers during his one-day stay in this key American ally – his first official overseas visit since taking the post three months ago.

– Associated Press

TRIBESMEN KIDNAP A FAMILY OF FIVE IN YEMEN

SAN’A, Yemen – Armed men kidnapped a former German deputy foreign minister, Juergen Chrobog, his wife, and three children touring the mountains of eastern Yemen yesterday and pressed the Yemeni government for the release of jailed members of their tribe, officials in both countries said. The Germans are in good health, the deputy governor of Shabwa, Nasser Ba’oum, said, citing tribal elders who visited the family. The kidnappers were said to belong to the al-Abdullah bin Dahha tribe, a number of whose members were arrested two months ago after a clash with another tribe.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

KILLERS OF LEBANESE EDITOR THREATEN NEW CHIEF OF U.N. HARIRI PROBE

BEIRUT, Lebanon – A pro-Syrian group that claimed it killed a Lebanese editor has threatened to kill the next head of the U.N. commission investigating the assassination of a former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, the editor’s newspaper reported yesterday. Syria, meanwhile, promised yesterday to fully cooperate with the new U.N. investigator, but repeated its demands for an agreement with the U.N. commission defining the terms of its cooperation.

An-Nahar newspaper said it had received a statement signed by “The Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom in al-Sham,” the group that claimed responsibility for the death of Gibran Tueni with a car bomb on December 12.

The statement said Detlev Mehlis, who stepped down this month as chairman of the U.N. commission, was lucky to escape death. Mr. Mehlis had concluded that Syria was involved in the killing of Hariri, who was slain by a truck bomb in Beirut in February. Syria denies the charge.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

CHINESE FORCED TO RELY ON WATER POLLUTED BY WASTE

BEIJING – Nine in 10 of Chinese cities rely on polluted groundwater, the government said yesterday. The problem of organic and inorganic pollutants in the groundwater was serious and spreading,the semi-official China News Service said, quoting the deputy director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Zhang Lijun. About 70% of all of China’s drinking water and 40% of the water used for irrigation is groundwater, which has been neglected as a major environmental issue compared with the notorious state of the country’s rivers.

– The Daily Telegraph

SOUTH AMERICA

BRAZILIAN INMATES END FOUR-DAY UPRISING AND RELEASE 207

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Inmates at a prison in Brazil’s Amazon jungle ended a four-day uprising and released more than 200 hostages yesterday after authorities met the hostage takers’ principal demand by returning one of their leaders from another prison. The inmates began their uprising during Sunday’s visiting hours at the Urso Branco State Prison in Rondonia’s state capital, Porto Velho, 1,500 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. The 190 women and 17 men held hostage were relatives of the inmates.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

SPAIN SENDS WORKERS HOME EARLY TO BOOST FAMILY LIFE

MADRID, Spain – Many Spaniards have schedules chopped in half with extensive breaks, making the workday so long that home is a place they only visit. Now government offices are closing earlier and offering flex time. Many Spanish civil servants work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., break for lunch, then come back as late as 4:30 p.m. for another three hours. But under a law that went into effect Tuesday, Spanish government ministries will close by 6 p.m. as part of a package of measures designed to help Spaniards balance jobs and families.

– Associated Press